Winning more important than century: Raina

After his splendid 99 set up Chennai's emphatic victory against Hyderabad, Suresh Raina praised his batting colleagues Murali Vijay and Michael Hussey for helping Chennai post a huge total of 223/3.

"It was a very good wicket to bat on and we were expecting 140 to 150, but Vijay and Hussey batted really well in the first few overs. I think in the end, Jadeja batted really well against (Dale) Steyn and that is why we got to 223," Raina said at the post-match press conference.

Speaking about his knock, Raina said his intent was to remain positive throughout his stay and try and bat till the end.

"I was looking to play till the last over. Vijay and Hussey had a very good partnership - 50 runs off five overs. Then Hussey was telling me to be positive and not plan anything. (He told me) whenever you get the ball, just look to be positive. Then me and Hussey had a good partnership. Hussey batted really well," he added.

Despite missing out on a well-deserved ton, Raina said he was disappointed, mentioning that winning was the more important thing.

"I am not disappointed at not being able to make 100 runs. We won the match, that is more important. It was very good wicket to bat on. We played really well honestly. I was batting really well. I was thinking to time the ball and no need to hurry," he said.

With their win against Hyderabad, Chennai have 10 wins from 13 games and are through to the play-offs and Raina credited the coaching staff for the team's successful run this year.

"I think God has been kind. We have a good franchise as well as coaching staff. We all believe in them. They gave us a very good platform. When you know you have a good coaching staff, you tend to learn good things and you can execute them."

Meanwhile, Hyderabad bowling coach blamed the loss on the bowlers, saying their "ordinary" performance was the reason for the defeat.

"It was a bad day. It did not really go the way we planned. We bowled ordinary. We made the plan, but I don't think we were able to execute. We have to fix it soon," he said.

Waqar pointed out that the bowlers were not disciplined enough, bowling all over the place which made it very easy for the Chennai batsmen.

"The most important thing is to bowl straight. We did not bowl straight enough. We bowled all over the place. They (opposition batsmen) are all international players and if you bowl bad deliveries, they will respond. You cannot afford to bowl like that," he said.

Younis said that his side will have to fix the issues as soon as possible in order to make it to the play-offs.

"We got to really pull our strings and make sure that we do most of the things right. We have not been batting well also. The good thing is we are winning the games. We are still in the race. We've still got four games and we need to play batter cricket than this," said the former Pakistan fast bowler.

About Ishant Sharma, who registered the most expensive figures when he gave away 66 runs off his 4 overs, Waqar said: "Ishant Sharma bowled very well in the last game and suddenly he couldn't get it right. Both left-handers Hussey and Raina are in great form. They cashed in."

"This is the worst part of coaching. You can't do anything about it. You have to sit out and wait till the end to talk and tell them what to do in the next game. 20-20 is so fast, it doesn't give you opportunity to send the message," he added.